, where chip reid is tonight. chip? >> reporter: well, scott, last year ocean city, maryland, mostly dodged hurricane irene, but forecasters say this time they may not be as lucky here with sandy. tourists on the ocean city boardwalk today seemed unphased by the approaching storm. but it was a darker mood among those who live here. bill purnell boarded up his bike shop. >> i'm pretty worried. on a one out of ten? i'd say i'm definitely a nine. >> we are concerned about the flooding. >> reporter: rick meehan is ocean city's mayor. what is your biggest worry about this storm? >> well, we have concerns about the intensity of the storm, what the wind levels are going to be when the storm actually gets here and we have concerns of some of the effects of the storm, mostly, i think, the possibility of flooding in some of the low-lying areas of town. >> reporter: off cape cod, coast guard planes directed fishing boats back to port. on shore, 20,000 utility workers have been put on standby to repair outages along the eastern seaboard. last year, hurricane irene caused a loss of power for more